The Sustainability Learning Forum

The United Nations and Transnational Corporations

Prof. Andreas Rasche, Copenhagen Business School

When former secretary-general Kofi Annan addressed business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 1999, he not only started to initiate the Global Compact, but also, at the same time, fundamentally redefined the relationship between the private sector and the United Nations (UN) system. After its operational launch in 2000, the Global Compact swiftly emerged as the world’s leading corporate responsibility initiative with currently close to 7,000 business and more than 3,000 nonbusiness participants in nearly 140 countries. more[...]

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The UN Global Compact in Latin America – Trends and Topics

Labor standards, human rights, environmental conservation, and transparency – the core issues of the United Nations Global Compact are especially vital in the developing economies. Latin America and the Caribbean are remarkable examples. “El Pacto Mundial en América Latina y el Caribe. Memorias 2011: Informe de Gestión,” a publication of the Global Compact Regional Center, gives a detailed view on the present situation of the Global Compact in Latin America and the Caribbean. more[...] login_required

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Recapping Rio+20 - Highlights and takeaways for business leaders

Deloitte

In June, several senior leaders and practitioners from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and its member firms attended Rio+20 (formally called the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development), the UN Global Compact's Corporate Sustainability Forum, Business Action for Sustainable Development 2012's Business Day, and various side meetings for business and civil society. more[...] login_required

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The REDvolución – Combating Spain´s High Unemployment

Margarita Álvarez
Lilian Furrer
Adecco Group

Adecco, the world’s leading provider of HR solutions, took unprecedented action on the streets of Spain on October 27, 2011. The aim was to use its expertise to help people unlock their potential, make a step into work, and integrate into society in an innovative and high- impact way. Driven by the belief that work is a fundamental right and a basic need, Adecco’s REDvolución initiative focused upon combating Spain’s rising unemployment and on lending a helping hand to as many people as possible. At the end of 2011, around 5.3 million people – or close to 23 percent of the working population – were out of work. more[...] login_required

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Climate Change

Extreme events increase. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there were only ion he US a record twelve weather disasters costing more than $1 billion in 2011. The strategies to meet this are mitigation – that means reduction and prevention of greenhouse gases output - and adaptation – that means measures to adapt to the inevitable global warming. more[...]

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Assessing the Organizational Implementation of Corporate Citizenship

Prof. Andreas Georg Scherer, University of Zurich
Dr. Dorothée Baumann-Pauly, University of Zürich

The Communication on Progress (COP) policy is the central component of the UN Global Compact’s integrity measures. The policy establishes a mandatory reporting requirement for businesses to report annually on their progress in implementing the Ten Principles of the UNGC. more[...] login_required

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Supply Chain Sustainability: A Practical Guide for Continuous Improvement

United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)

Illustrates how Global Compact signatories can implement the ten principles throughout their supply chains and integrate sustainability into procurement strategies. Includes examples of good corporate practices. more[...] login_required

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A New Era of Sustainability - UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO Study 2010

The Accenture Institute for High Performance

Provides an overview of CEO perspectives on progress to date, challenges ahead and the journey towards a sustainable economy. The report is based on an extensive study of nearly 1,000 Global Compact CEOs. (UNGC/Accenture, 2010) more[...] login_required

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Stepping Up for Skills

Editorial Team

In difficult economic and social situations, education and skills give young people a chance to overcome discrimination and exclusion, obtain work, and play a fulfilling role in society. Helping people to obtain work and career opportunities is part of the Adecco Group’s core business. As the world leader in HR services, we have over 32,000 colleagues in touch with the tough challenges many young people face around the globe. In 2010, our colleagues went many steps further and took part in our first Win4Youth project. more[...] login_required

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Stepping Up for Skills

Lilian Furrer

In difficult economic and social situations, education and skills give young people a chance to overcome discrimination and exclusion, obtain work, and play a fulfilling role in society. Helping people to obtain work and career opportunities is part of the Adecco Group’s core business. As the world leader in HR services, we have over 32,000 colleagues in touch with the tough challenges many young people face around the globe. In 2010, our colleagues went many steps further and took part in our first Win4Youth project. more[...]

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The Global Compact 2000–2010

Prof. Andreas Rasche, Copenhagen Business School

Over the last 10 years, the Global Compact has grown significantly, both in terms of the number of participants and their engagement. While only a handful of companies and NGOs met on July 26, 2000, at the UN Headquarters in New York to launch the Global Compact, today (as of February 2010) more than 7,300 business and non-business participants are part of the initiative. more[...]

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Lead by Example

Jeffrey Revels, TMS Group
TMS Group

The purpose of the venture between TMS and its key customers is to provide a working strategy to implement the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI). The key is a partnership in respecting human dignity, managing risk, and maximizing the opportunities in the supply chain by taking a proactive and ethical approach. more[...]

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Action In the Supply Chain

Dr. Alexandra Hildebrandt
Arcandor AG

Since the nineties, retailers have been paying more and more attention to social Responsibility in the Supply Chain. As there was extensive agreement on establishing common criteria of their individual procurement guidelines, it was only logical for them to pursue a cooperative effort. Originally under the umbrella of the Foreign Trade Association of the German Retail Trade (AVE), these efforts developed at the European level into the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI). more[...] login_required

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About the Global Compact International Yearbook

The aim of the Global Compact International Yearbook is to create a global overview of the achievements of the UN Global Compact (UNGC). The book offers proactive and in-depth information on key sustainability issues to stakeholders around the world and promotes unique and comprehensive knowledge exchange and learning in the spirit of the Global Compact principles. Thus the publication helps to advance transparency, promotes the sharing of best-practices, and, perhaps most significantly, gives a strong voice to the regional and global actors that are at the heart of the initiative. more[...]

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Global Core Labor Standards Are More Important Than Ever

Dr. Thomas Palley, New America Foundation

For much of the last decade, globalization was a leading issue of public policy debate, and global core labor standards (CLS) were the lead demand of critics of globalization. Now, with the world economy stuck in the deepest economic recession since the 1930s, attention to globalization and the need for labor standards has waned as people have become more concerned about jobs and economic recovery. more[...] login_required

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